Newsletter for Thursday 3 July

 

TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY

NEWSLETTER - JULY 3

Some dates seem to just not have many really big name people having anniversaries. That makes the questions posed more difficult. Today is one of those days! Before you look at today's web page, see if you can answer some of these questions about the events that happened on July 3. Some of the names are very familiar. Others will likely stump you. Tickle your curiosity with these questions, then check your answers on today's web page.

Births

Jesse Douglas, born 3 Jul 1897, was an American mathematician who was awarded one of the first two Fields Medals in 1936 for solving the Plateau problem. which had first been posed by the Italian-French mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange in 1760.  What is the Plateau problem about?

Deaths

A U.S. Army surgeon (1854-1920) contributed greatly to the building of the Panama Canal by introducing mosquito control to prevent yellow fever and malaria. In Cuba, he assisted in eliminating mosquito breeding grounds, then in 1904, he led the ten-year anti-mosquito campaign to wipe out yellow fever in Panama. Can you name this man?

Events

On 3 Jul 1903, the first cable across the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii, Guam and Manila was completed and spliced at Manila, Philippine Islands. After testing, the first official message was sent the next day. This technological event ended Hawaii�s isolation by connecting it to the mainland U.S. and the rest of the world. The cable was a mainstay of communications into the early 1950s when newer technology rendered it obsolete.  The cable route included establishing a cable station on an unpopulated island which became well-known in WW II. Can you name it?

On 3 Jul 1841, an English astronomer entered in his journal "Formed a design in the beginning of this week in investigating, as soon as possible after taking my degree, the irregularities in the motion of Uranus... in orderto find out whether they may be attributed to the action of an undiscovered planet beyond it..." In Sep 1845 he gave James Challis, director of the Cambridge Observatory, accurate information on where the new planet, as yet unobserved, could be found; but unfortunately the planet was not recognized at Cambridge until much later, after its discovery at the Berlin Observatory on 23 Sep 1846. Can you name this man?

Answers

When you have your answers ready to all the questions above, you'll find all the information to check them, and more, on the July 3 web page of Today in Science History. Or, try this link first for just the brief answers.

Fast answers for the previous newsletter for July 2: production of energy in stars; crystal structure; eight; butterfat content of milk; floating pontoons; elevated.

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